I have also tried to derive color and vividness by selecting prominent personalities round which to group whole cycles of facts.

Thus, some of the chapters bear the names of famous men, others are entitled from periods, others from countries, and yet others are named from the general currents of European thought.

In all this my aim has been very modest.

I have done little in the way of literary criticism, but I felt that a dry collection of names and dates was the very thing I had to avoid.

I need not say that I have done my best to ensure accuracy in my statements by referring to the best authorities known to me on each division of the subject.